Gunman among 7 dead after Fla. hostage standoff

Saturday, 27 July 2013 14:45

A hostage situation and mass shooting that ended this morning with seven people dead in the South Florida town of Hialeah began when an elderly couple who managed the apartment complex left the granddaughter they were watching and went to talk to a tenant living with his mother, according to reports.

That commonplace act led to a barrage of gunfire that killed the couple, a man walking his children home and three other people apparently going about their business Friday night, according to police. The incident ended when a SWAT team stormed the apartment early Saturday where two hostages were being held by a man suspected of shooting six people.

The incident began when Italo and Samira Pisciotti went to talk to the tenant and were gunned down in a storm of 15 to 20 shots, according to the Miami Herald.

Shamira Pisciotti, the couple's daughter, told the paper that her mother appeared to have died instantly but not her dad.